iBRAT PRODUCTIONS / THE FUTURE Except

i
BRAT
PRODUCTIONS / THE FUTURE
Except where otherwise
noted all photography is
by Kate Raines of
Plate 3 Photography.
“If you haven’t got a penny to your name, if your credit is slow and your skies are
grey, if you’re tired of the same old thing, why don’t you pick up the phone and give
us a ring? We’ve got what you need, interest free and guaranteed. Pick from any
product in our line. We ask you for your time!”
– Chorus of bouffons, The Future
Listen to the chorus here:
https://soundcloud.com/the-future-musical/09-time.
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THE FUTURE / CONCEPT
The Future (full title Always Coming Soon: The Future) is an in-yer-face
cabaret produced by Philadelphia-based BRAT Productions. The show
features a mysterious machine in a garbage dump that is home to three
down-and-out clowns. Looking for a way to pass the time, and motivated
by a deep-rooted fear of solitude, they coax an unsuspecting passer-by into
the machine with promises of a better life. Stand-and-deliver cabaret songs
mingle with the sounds of shifty vagabonds in the background hocking
their goods, in a musical described by theater critic Deb Miller as “A
Toulouse-Lautrec painting come to life...with time-warped reminiscences of
1931 Berlin and a distinctly Parisian flavor of 19th-century Montmartre.”
2014 & 2015 PRODUCTIONS
The Future opened to sold-out audiences at Performance Garage in
Philadelphia, May 15-18, 2014, with Justin Rose in the role of Karl, Tabitha
Allen as Runt, Rob Cutler as Gerry, and Jess Conda as Shirley. The original
cast went on to mount the show again in a co-production with Painted
Bride Art Center in Philadelphia, January 15-17, 2015.
ONLINE MEDIA & PRESS
Video (Painted Bride Art Center, Jan 2015): http://youtu.be/olqsa7QIbag
Music: https://soundcloud.com/the-future-musical/sets/live2015
Publicity & set design by Peter Gaffney: http://neosequitur.com/design
Photos of devising & backstage: http://jauhiensasnou.com/the-future
Interview with Peter Gaffney: http://tinyurl.com/future-interview
Reviewed by Deb Miller for Phindie.com: http://tinyurl.com/future-phindie
On WHYY's Newsworthy: http://tinyurl.com/future-whyy
In the Philly Voice: http://tinyurl.com/future-phillyvoice
Original cast members Justin Rose, Tabitha Allen and Rob Cutler.
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“The bouffons from this family are soothsayers. They
know the future...the end of the world. The bouffons
mime images of the Apocalypse and have fun
parodying them. Having seen into the future, The
Word collapses. It is carried away into the night to
the sound of drums.”
– Jacques Lecoq, Theater of Movement and Gesture
Jess Conda in the role of Shirley sings Something Went
Wrong – listen to a live recording here:
https://soundcloud.com/the-future-musical/04-wrong.
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THE FUTURE / CULTURAL EXCHANGE
BRAT Productions is currently seeking a “sister theater company” for
cultural exchange to continue development of The Future. Our aim is to
adapt the concept and story in a devised theater setting, and to collaborate
with actors and musicians to mount an all new production of the show. The
project will include a “bouffon” workshop, led by the three principles of the
BRAT creative team (see below) and some members of the original cast.
New roles and scenarios may come out of the workshopping and writing
process, which will culminate in a complete and revised manuscript and
score, to be used in possible future productions by the sister theater.
BOUFFON WORKSHOP
The bouffon is a figure who stands outside of everyday life, mocking the
values and ideals that hold it together. Based on the methodology of
physical theater pedagogue Jacques Lecoq, bouffon techniques begin with
the grotesque physical transformation of the actor, to the point where the
whole body becomes a mask. “In a bouffonesque body,” writes Lecoq, “the
person who mocks can say the unsayable, going so far as to mock what
‘cannot’ be mocked: war, famine, God...the absurdity in the way human life
is organized.” The bouffon workshop will explore this principle, testing
new scenes and scenarios for The Future, and other ideas that emerge in the
writing process, in search of the full potential of the bouffon.
PRODUCTION
In tandem with the writing and workshopping process, BRAT Productions
will pursue grant opportunities to fund a new production of The Future,
building a set, working with local musicians and lighting engineers, and
publicizing the show to local audiences. Members of the bouffon workshop
will be selected to play new roles alongside members of the creative team.
Tabitha Allen as “Runt” in The Future.
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“The clowns live in this place of total desperation – and that can be really funny.
That’s where this whole piece is living – the clowns are pinned on the stage,
desperately trying to sell... nothing. They have no ideas, and they have no material,
really. They have no material but they have to convince you that they do. It’s an
advertising pitch that gets more and more out of hand. It’s not just that the
advertisement is bigger than the thing its selling. The advertisement is the only thing
for sale. [http://tinyurl.com/future-pitch and http://tinyurl.com/future-03machine.]
This is something that’s been exciting to us from the very beginning. It has a lot to do
with trends in popular culture and the internet where we’re always waiting for
something to happen, but the advertisement is the only event. It has to do with all
those ways in which we feel the need to brand ourselves, to transform ourselves in a
way that will make time ‘work better.’ We’re always looking for the next thing that
will land us in a place of satisfaction.”
– Scott Sheppard, Director
Watch the whole WHYY interview here:
http://tinyurl.com/future-whyy..
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Justin Rose performs in the role of Karl, a
down-and-out clown in a garbage dump, whose
only distraction from the slow march of time is
a machine that works in fits and starts – and the
fading amusement of failed suicide.
SCOTT SHEPPARD / DIRECTOR
A member of the inaugural graduating class of Pig Iron Advanced
Professional Training, 2013, Scott Sheppard began working on The Future as
BRAT Productions’ 2013-2014 Artist in Residence. He is the founder and
Co-Director of Lightning Rod Special (http://lightningrodspecial.com), and
has been a co-creator, producer, and performer for all of their productions,
including Underground Railroad Game (NOLA Fringe 2013), Go Long Big
Softie (Philly Fringe 2013) and Hackles (Philly Fringe 2012). He was selected
for FringeArts’ Jumpstart Program consecutively for original works
Underground Railroad Game in 2013 and Lessons for the Lobotomized in 2012.
Underground Railroad Game was later selected for a Deep Space Residency
with NACL Theatre in October 2014 and for the 2014 ANT Fest at Ars Nova
in New York City. Scott is a proud member of the inaugural class at Pig
Iron’s school for Advanced Performance Training (2011-2013). Most
recently Scott was a deviser/performer in Pig Iron Theatre Company’s 99
Breakups and traveled to Colgate University where he directed and cocreated their fall production, Seeing the Beast.
Scott is especially interested in devised theater, and built the dramaturgy
for The Future by creating exercises and games based on Lecoq’s notion of
the bouffon. Listen to Scott play the role of pre-show barker during the preshow here: https://soundcloud.com/the-future-musical/00-preshow.
ONLINE MEDIA
Curriculum Vitae: http://tinyurl.com/scottsheppard-cv
Underground Railroad Game highlights: http://tinyurl.com/urg-highlights
Underground Railroad Game at Ars Nova: http://tinyurl.com/urg-arsnova
Underground Railroad Game interview: http://tinyurl.com/urg-interview
Comedy video short “The Wake Up Artist”: http://vimeo.com/96459264
Comedy video short “Scarf-Face”: http://vimeo.com/38164205
Scott Sheppard directs The Future. Photo by Jauhien Sasnou.
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Peter Gaffney rehearses at Painted Bride
Art Center with Cabaret Red Light, of
which he was co-founder and artistic
director 2008-2011. Listen to demo and
live recordings of Peter’s music at
http://neosequitur.com/music.
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Photo by Johanna Austin
PETER GAFFNEY / CONCEPT, MUSIC, SET
Originally from Seattle, Peter Gaffney is a composer, puppet maker,
and theater director, and Co-founder and Artistic Director of Cabaret
Red Light (2008–2011). Since 2008, Peter has helped create more than
thirty original theatrical productions with over 150 performances,
chosen at times by TimeOut New York and Philadelphia’s City Paper as
pick of the week and “must see” performances. More recently, Peter
created story, text and puppets for Gesualdo in Heaven, depicting the
life, crimes, and musical inventions of Renaissance composer Carlo
Gesualdo. As 2014 Artist in Residence at Leonrod-Haus für Kunst, he
created a site-specific solo performance in a WWII-era barracks
shower (Clown Death Peep Show), and will leading workshops on
“counter-puppetry” techniques as 2015 Artist in Residence at
PLATFORM, a think tank for contemporary art and culture in
Munich, Germany (http://www.platform-muenchen.de/en). In 2016,
Peter’s work will be performed at the 10th International Puppet Days
festival in İzmir, Turkey, and at DOT in Istanbul (http://www.godot.org/?page_id=1727), where he is also working with Artistic
Director Murat Daltaban on an adaptation of Zargana (Needlefish), a
novel by Hakan Günday. Peter has studied puppetry, mask work and
physical acting techniques with Pig Iron Theater (US), Divadlo
Continuo (CZ) and Rootless Root (GR/SK), and has led workshops on
physical theater at Leonrod-Haus für Kunst (DE).
MUSIC FROM THE FUTURE
Live 2015: https://soundcloud.com/the-future-musical/sets/live2015
Full song catalog: https://soundcloud.com/the-future-musical/sets/catalog
Live 2010: https://soundcloud.com/the-future-musical/sets/catalog-live2010
OTHER MUSIC BY PETER GAFFNEY
Recent music: http://neosequitur.com/music
Music for circus: http://tinyurl.com/gaffney-circus
Electronic and experimental music: http://tinyurl.com/gaffney-electro
OTHER ONLINE MEDIA
Website: http://neosequitur.com
Catalog, 2008-2015: http://neosequitur.com/cv/Gaffney_Catalog.pdf
Curriculum Vitae: http://tinyurl.com/petergaffney-cv
Cabaret Red Light website: http://cabaretredlight.com
Cabaret Red Light performance highlights: http://neosequitur.com/video
Gesualdo in Heaven, video: http://gesualdoinheaven.com/video.html
Clown Death Peep Show, video: http://youtu.be/NOihz-NwLNw
The themes, settings and characters of The Future were originally
conceived by Peter in a series of rock-and-roll cabaret shows called
The Experiment. Drawing at times from post punk and new wave,
circus and cabaret noir, the songs from The Experiment depict a dark
soundscape, with nostalgic accordion accompanied by lockstep
rhythms and rock-and-roll vocals, inspired by such contemporary
influences as Nina Hagen, David Bowie, Radiohead and Frank Zappa.
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Jess Conda stars in the lead role of her punk rock
theater production Let’s Start a War, which she
describes as “a bureaucratic party drenched in
decadence where the rich are gross exaggerations of
themselves and the kitchen staff is plotting an uprising.
Think Greenaway’s The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and
Her Lover meets 1984.” Read more at
http://tinyurl.com/brat-startawar or watch highlights and
interview at http://tinyurl.com/conda-rocktheater.
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JESS CONDA / ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, BRAT PRODUCTIONS
BRAT PRODUCTIONS
As BRAT Producing Artistic Director, Jess has been involved in
practically every BRAT production since 2003. Favorite roles: Mary
the Maid in A 24 Hour The Bald Soprano; Babydoll in Eye 95: Re-tarred;
and various roles in Rock and Awe, a rock and roll cabaret series that
was Jess’s 2012 BRAT Resident Artist project. Jess has also performed
with Shakespeare in Clark Park (5 seasons), Pig Iron, Peek A Boo
Revue and The Martha Graham Cracker cabaret, among others. Jess is
a vocalist in “Red 40 and the Last Groovement,” who are currently
playing every first Friday at Fringe Arts. This fall, Jess and
collaborator Jenn Kidwell began work on a full length piece as their
popular drag characters Len and Stan with a works in progress
showing at JACK in Brooklyn. She was chosen “Best Star Power” by
Philadelphia Magazine (2013), and included in their “Top 10 FringeArts
Performers You Need to Know.” Jess studied theater at Pig Iron
School for Advanced Performer Training (Fernando VanReigersberg
Promising Theater Artist Scholarship, 2011-2013) and at Arcadia
University.
The vision of BRAT Productions (http://www.bratproductions.org) is a
world in which theatre shares a place in the common cultural consciousness
alongside music, film, television and the internet; where theatre speaks to
everyone. Founded in 1996, BRAT produces both contemporary material
and re-envisioned classics, working with new artists, working in nontraditional venues, and working to keep ticket prices low. We have a tenyear track record as Philadelphia’s premier avant-garde theatre, and has
become known for using unusual performance venues to enhance our
original and noteworthy productions.
In The Future, Jess plays the role of Shirley, an unsuspecting passer-by
whose life changes forever when accepts the bouffons’ invitation to
step into a mysterious machine. “Shirley’s kind of an amalgamation of
a couple different ideas, one being this idea of leading an
extraordinary life versus an un-extraordinary life. So she receives this
weird promise: your life is going to be awesome now... no, wait,
now.... no, now...”
BRAT Productions generates new theatre-goers by creating theatre that is
unpredictable, courageous, and compelling. We value risk, innovation, and
fostering the growth of artists in the greater Philadelphia region. Since 1996:
theatre that breaks the rules, theatre that tests conventions, theatre that
rocks! Brat is committed to “thinking outside the proscenium” with
performance pieces that are surprising and incendiary, entertaining and
unsettling. We create new work and re-envisioned classics, collaborate with
established and emerging artists, produce shows in non-traditional venues,
and reach out to everyone by keeping ticket prices low.
ONLINE MEDIA
Official BRAT Productions website: http://www.bratproductions.org
Jess Conda talking about Rock & Awe: http://tinyurl.com/conda-rocktheater
Jess Conda performance highlights: http://tinyurl.com/conda-highlights
Rock & Awe reviewed by Geekadelphia: http://tinyurl.com/rock-awe-review
BRAT’s 24-hour The Bald Soprano: http://tinyurl.com/brat-baldsoprano
Curriculum Vitae: http://tinyurl.com/jessconda-cv
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THE FUTURE / INQUIRIES
Contact: Peter Gaffney
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +001 484-995-3431